New TV Time (again)

[neonplanet40]

Hi Folks,

I am getting 2 TVs in the next few weeks (providing black Friday offers something good).

1 is a Samsung Frame TV - 55 inch for the kitchen. I can't really ask questions about this one because it is the only thing that will work (due to the art mode and matt screen). Basically, wanting a tv that doesn't always look like a TV



However, I am also looking a TV for my study which will have a fire stick attached and used to also watch sports/YouTube/movies. The budget for this one is around the £400 mark. Basically I want to know what is the best I can get for this price? I am aware it isn't much.. But this end of the TV segment is packed with TV's.

Some I had been looking at are:

• Amazon Fire TV 50-inch Omni QLED ( I do like the ambient feature on this - like a cheap frame tv feature) Think this is a rebadged TCL.
• TCL 55C641K 55 or 50" - prices similar
• Similar Hisense model for the price above.

I don't know what to get. basically I read that if your not paying about £800+, they will all be the same, so buy the cheapest. I'm not sure how far I agree with this statement though, or what its based on. So I'm keen on some peoples thoughts if they have bought a similar priced tv lately?

[Jonj1611]

I have a hisense QLED and depending on what the source is I get some severe blocks are dark scenes. I have turned on and off every option and still they remain. I believe its a source issue and due to quality as if I am playing from blu-ray I don't get the issue, streaming definitely, streaming 4k, yes but not as much

[Saracen999]

I'm looking at a new TV too, for the bedroom in my case, and am a bit confused too. I'm after about 50" (the 55" downstairs is nice, but really just too big). That 55" is an LG C-series and i like it but, not really sure want to spend that much.

We used to have a Samsung but .... one thing put me off.

After about 3 years, it packed up. Sort-of. About the bottom third of the screen went very dim. I was told there's some backlighting module and one of (I think) three had failed. It is, I'm told, about a £20 part BUT, on some models including tthat samsung, it's integrated into the screen. So, when it fails, the repair involves replaving the entire display panel.

I have two problems with that. First, from an environmental perspective, it involves diching and replacing a large TV panel which, in itself, was still working PERFECTLY, because this stupid £20 moduke had died. The second, environment aside, is that the cost of doing that was something like 60% of the new purchase cost of the TV just for the panel. Plus labour, etc,.

Fiortunately, it was still under supplier warranty (thank you, John Lewis) and so, cost me nowt. But, incorrectly I suspect, along with the repaired TV I got a copy of the 3rd party reaier's invoice too JL, detailing parts used, costs and labour. Oooops.

So, when exactly the same thing, on exactly the same section of the screen, happened again about 2.5 years later (out of warranty by this point), a repair was not an attractie option.

My problem is that tthe repairer told me SOME TVs told me this "integrated into panel" business applies but to other models, you can just change the £20 module if it dies. But I don't even know if it applies to all Samsung models le alone other brands, and /i sure don't know if TV design still happens in that moronic and anti-consumer way. I'd guess that is it saves them £0.1 per set, and there hasn't been a huge and well-publicised backlash, it probably does. LG and others may be just as guilty, but it doesn't excite me about trusting to Samsung again.

As for your query, for the above reasons, I have no idea what to suggest. I'm not even sure what to do myself. I want a decent picture and don't mind paying a decen premium, without getting silly, to do it. What I would like, and have no idea where to find (if it's even possible) is :-

- some idea of average lifespan, by model and especially, by brand.
- some iea of average cst to repair, by model and by brand.

I don't even mind buying a considerably more expensive model PROVIDED part of what I'm paying for is durability. It's a bit like buying a washing machine - buy cheap and it's a lottery as to how long it lasts, but buy Miele (for example) and there's a pretty good chance it'll last a long, long time. I've bought several kitchen blenders over the years, each of which degraded pretty quickly as blades blunted. Then I bought a Vitamix a few years ago and it still works now like it did on day 1 .... but it cost a lot more than the cheap ones. I guess what I'm saying is I want to "buy right, buy once", even if 'right' costs more. But what brands/models of TV's are 'right'?

[MrJim]

Having bought an OLED TV for my living room, I'd have a very hard time buying anything else in the future, I think. Although mini-LED TVs are supposed to offer a similar viewing experience to OLED, depending on the number of dimming zones they support. OLEDs TVs are only available as small as 42" though as far as I am aware, so not suitable for some household locations.

The problem I have with flat-panel TVs is that they inevitably have quite poor sound quality, especially the cheaper ones. So depending on your tolerance for tinny, muddled audio, you might need to budget for a soundbar too.

[neonplanet40]

Having bought an OLED TV for my living room, I'd have a very hard time buying anything else in the future, I think. Although mini-LED TVs are supposed to offer a similar viewing experience to OLED, depending on the number of dimming zones they support. OLEDs TVs are only available as small as 42" though as far as I am aware, so not suitable for some household locations.

The problem I have with flat-panel TVs is that they inevitably have quite poor sound quality, especially the cheaper ones. So depending on your tolerance for tinny, muddled audio, you might need to budget for a soundbar too.

It will be in teh same room as my avr and wharfedale speakers. SO sound not an issue if needed.

As Saracen alludes - looking for a tv isn't easy. For this set, I don't want to spend OLED prices. It is the price that puts me off.

As for durability, the only way around this is to get it from john lewis/richer sounds etc with a good warranty.

[Jonatron]

Almost all modern TV's look good. OK yeah maybe some have more vibrant colours, some less ghosting in motion, some deeper blacks, but it doesn't matter to most. I'd go to a tv showroom like a big Currys to double check it looks OK at the angle you'll be looking at it from. Then buy from a retailer that offers a decent warranty length.

[Saracen999]

..... So depending on your tolerance for tinny, muddled audio, you might need to budget for a soundbar too.

I entirely agree. I already had, TBH.

It was a revelation, a few months ago. I'd been having more and more trouble with the TV sound and saying to the wife "What'd he/she say?" when some character on TV did anything less than talk in a clear, reasonably loud voice. "Why are they <bleep>ing mumbling again"?

I thought it was me. I thought it was just getting old. And to be fair, partly ... it is. But only partly. But when I mentioned it to others, so many, and not just those of my age, agreed. Hey - it wasn't just me. Nope, it was in large part the TV.

Order one Polk Signa S4. Which, on arrival, was in a box that was open from end to end, and the courier driver thought I was going to accept that. Oh, hell, no. Anythig could have been done to it, by anybody, in transit and I'd end uup being the poor mutt that got stuck with it. Not a chance. It went straight back, without us ever accepting delivery. Fortunately, it was Amazon who didn't bat an eyelid and just credited it. I was preparing to re-order when I decided to order some new Sonos speakers from Richer (for the bedroom) so I stuck a Sonos sound bar on the order and put that up in the lounge. And that was the revelation.

I must admit, I like the Sonos ecosystem. The speakers aren't what I might choose as an audiophile, if I were 20 or 30 years younger but they're every bit good enough for me now. Even the (relatively) cheap ERA 100's I bought, as a stereo pair. But, having worked out how to get the sound off the FLAC file collection on the NAS, they're oh-so convenient.

The interesting (to me) bit is that the Sonos speakers have an Alexa option,like the cheap and decent for the price Echo speakers they're replacing, but I haven't even bothered activating it. Bye-bye, Alexa.

Anyway, yeah, first thing I do with a bedroom TV will be a sound bar. Maybe that Polk? Who am I kidding - Sonos again.

Anyone getting frustrated with flat-TV sound? I very much recommend a decent sound bar. I strongly suspect even a pretty cheap one will be a massive improvement, but my level of experience to judge from is limited .... to the Sonos, and a £1500 Pioneer sound bar a friend bought a while back. Very nice an' all, but the Sonos is pretty good to my ears for TV sound, that is. It's bearable for music, but no real substitute for proper speakers for a music fan.

[MrJim]

This might be of interest to anyone wanting a new TV, & who has Amazon Prime:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/amazon-fire.../dp/B09N6YL3Y4

It's by 'invite' only, for Prime members. If successful, after registering your interest, you'll get an email between 24th to 27th November, with a link allowing you to buy the TV at the offer price.

[Saracen999]

Looks like a good price. Not for me though. I'm trying to reduce reliance on Amazon stuff and get rid of the Echo's, not add TV snooping to their capability. Yes, i use Amazon Prime video a little, but most of what I watch is TV or fils either from elsewhere, or mostly, from my own media server, which is why I've been loading it up from the DVD collection. It's starting to approach a personal Netflix, stuffed only with stuff we like and very little of the dross I wouldn't watch if they paid me. For instance, Amazon seem to like shoving ad's for football stuff at me, and the only way they or anyone will get me watching that is to handcuff me to the chair, immobilise my head, and superglue my eyes open in front of it. Why they thinkI want that I've no idea. I've checked the viewing history and nothing on that suggests football interests me at all. In fact, it doesn't suggest much because I delete it every few weeks anyway.

Anyway, looks like a good deal (if you can get it) for anyone that doesn't mind Fire, but is not for me.

[MrJim]

I forgot to credit 'Hotukdeals' for highlighting the offer.

If you don't like Amazon stuff, & don't mind a smaller screen, they're now offering this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/tcl-40sf540...tag=2602793704

Edit! I've just read that the TV uses 'Frie OS', so it's still Amazon... oh well.

[Saracen999]

Yup, still a FireTV.

The whole privacy thing with TV's is taking a lot on faith, though. I seem to remember Samsung gettig caught "phoning home" on users a few years back. Nothing is perfect, but Amazon is just a risk to far. For the record, I don't know if Google do TVs or not but that would be an absolute no-no. And yes, I'm aware of AndroidTV and it's provenance.

I'm more looking for sorta 48-50" type sizes, too. A bit less than the 55", but not as low as 40". Thanks for the thought, though. I'llprobably just end up with another LG. At least I'm happy it's a good TV, even if the Ui design is horrible.

[Jonatron]

If you think LG TV's are safer than Amazon: http://doctorbeet.blogspot.com/2013/...names-and.html
You have not connect the TV to the internet, and use a linux box connected over HDMI to be less spied on.

[Saracen999]

I did refer earlier to Samsung getting caught snooping, and it's at the back of my mind that LG were too. However, I'd also note that that article is from 2013, and who knows what they do or do not do, now. It could be that they were embarrassed into stopping doing this, it could be they still do the same or it could be that they are MUCH worse.

What I do know is a fair bil about what Amazon do.

Do I like it? No, I resent the hell out of it but, I'll put up with modest intrusion from Amazon because other services from Amazon have value to me, not least, Kindle and, yes, even control over lights and radio stations via Echo. But that's about all I do with Echo. TV viewing habits too? Hell, no.

There's another difference. Amazon know who I/we are because we buy from them. LG don't. LG goes through a sub-net, and VPN. Amazon doesn't, because we buy from them.

If LG are tracking our TV, they're in for a very boring track, mainly of the wife's habit of watching endless reruns of NCIS, Law & Order or, yeah, spicing it up with the occassional Misommer Murder, or Poirot.

I watch almost everything I watch on a laptop in the bedroom. But, it's sitting on my lap and some 15" screen size. The idea for the bedroom set is to watch the same material I do now, but on a wall-mounted TV. No, it won't be connected to the internet, and no, it won't be getting any external material. Merely the feed from a PC.

All of which is if I actually do it at all. The other option is to put the gaming PC in here, when/if I get around to it, with a decent monitor BUT, at the end of the bed, not wall-mounted.

All told, fully maintaining privacy is next to impossible these days, at least, without either living like a hermit, or going to extreme measures. In my circumstances, I decided a little over 3 years ago to .... 'loosen' .... my stance on privacy. Somewhat. It's a trade-off between convenience and privacy and I moved the balance a bit from privacy towards convenience. As a result of that decision, yes I have a smart phone 9Samsung, which means Android, which means Google ID). That said, I'm VERY careful about using that ID, and it goes nowhere near my PCs. I don't use ANY Google services on my PCs signed in, even Youtube, and don't use most Google services at all. If Google track activity on that phone (and they do) it is also going to be very boring. It's for specific purposes, like flying my DJI drone and more recently, setting up Sonos speakers. However, it's on PAYG and the chargeable usage isn't much more than the once-per-6-months Vodafone require. And it lives in a Faraaday bag most of the time.

I also have, as of a few months ago, an iPad Pro. Yes, Apple are an arch-tracker and in some ways, worse even than Google. But, I use that device for very specific purposes and so far, it's hadd zero personal data. It's not used for emails, any form of messaging, no video sharing, etc.

All this is explained to try to illustrate that yes, privacy is very important to me but, it's a balance against a few other factors, one of which is sheer functionality. I've had to compromise what I'd prefer to do, but only so far. using FireTV is a step too far. For me, the downside is just to much to be willing to pay to get tthe upside.

But I'm under no illusions that ANY other hardware supplier of a device that connects to the internet is going to be very tempted, until/unless legal changes make it unattractive (and I'm not holding my breath on that) with ANY device that connects to the internet. It's a risk at a minimum, and more likely, a compromise. But with Amazon, I've already gone further than I like, and absolutely will not go further.

[Jonatron]

I did refer earlier to Samsung getting caught snooping, and it's at the back of my mind that LG were too. However, I'd also note that that article is from 2013, and who knows what they do or do not do, now. It could be that they were embarrassed into stopping doing this, it could be they still do the same or it could be that they are MUCH worse.

They got caught back then, and never fixed it. I linked to that one because I it affects my TV. On the plus side, the TV still works after 10 years.

They are MUCH worse now.



Hidden opt-in by default settings!

Also

https://theintercept.com/2017/03/07/...ening-devices/

[Saracen999]

I don't remember all the changes I made but the very first thing I did after first powering it up was to go through their menu's very carefully and turn off every capability I didn't want, which was pretty much anything to do with their "services". I don't remember one looking quite like that, but I'll check later, just in case.

Our main use of the set is :-

- the wife uses Virgin's stuff through the Tivo box. I very rarely do.

- I use it to pick up films or TV series .... from my NAS, via an Emby server runnng on it.

Anything "Smart" in unnecessary, and disabled wherever I can. I will check that one later, but I'd be surprised to have missed it.

[ik9000]

I have a hisense QLED and depending on what the source is I get some severe blocks are dark scenes. I have turned on and off every option and still they remain. I believe its a source issue and due to quality as if I am playing from blu-ray I don't get the issue, streaming definitely, streaming 4k, yes but not as much

FWIW which pretty much advise against buying anything by Hisense.They make up a good portion of the "Don't Buy" recommendations.